Assemblage of Unique Space Leads to 15-Year Lease by Major National Apparel Retailer
New York, NY – July 23, 2012 – SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) and joint venture partner Jeff Sutton announced today that they have signed specialty apparel retailer Express, Inc. to a 15-year lease at 1552-1560 Broadway, establishing a flagship Express store in the heart of Times Square. The transaction is the culmination of the partnership’s successful effort to combine, modernize and reposition its fee interest in 1552 Broadway and its long term leasehold interest in 1560 Broadway into a single iconic location facing the famous Times Square “bowtie.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Express will lease approximately 30,000 square feet – with the new store featuring three levels of selling floors, 206 feet of continuous sidewalk frontage wrapping around the northwest corner of Broadway and 46th street, and approximately 9,000 square feet of LED signage. The new store is expected to open in the fall of 2013. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed.
SL Green President, Andrew Mathias, commented, “When SL Green and Jeff Sutton acquired control of 1552 Broadway and contiguous space in 1560 Broadway last year for purposes of establishing a new Times Square flagship retail location, the response from retailers was very strong. We look forward to working with Express, Inc. to bring another outstanding shopping experience to the ‘Crossroads of the World.'”
He continued, “Our long-time collaboration with Jeff has been very successful. Together we have created an incredible portfolio of well-positioned New York City retail locations that have benefited both of us, along with the city’s residents and visitors. We intend to keep working with him to create and take advantage of future investment opportunities.”
In a separate announcement that included an additional new store location for Express – in San Francisco – Michael Weiss, chairman, president & CEO of Express, Inc., said, “The age old mantra of ‘location, location, location’ was certainly at work…These flagships will not only reflect the strength of our fashion authority within these two cities, but also serve as a gateway to our brand for international visitors and shoppers as part of our international expansion strategy.”
About SL Green:
SL Green Realty Corp., New York City’s largest office landlord, is the only fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of March 31, 2012, SL Green owned interests in 70 Manhattan properties totaling more than 39.0 million square feet. This included ownership interests in 27.3 million square feet of commercial properties and debt and preferred equity investments secured by 11.7 million square feet of properties. In addition to its Manhattan investments, SL Green holds ownership interests in 32 suburban assets totaling 6.9 million square feet in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey, along with four development properties in the suburbs encompassing approximately 0.5 million square feet.</i/
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